Remember this? Ocean Outfalls Advertisement (1987)

The Water Board (Sydney Water) had newspaper advertisements published regularly through the late 1980's to inform Sydneysiders of the Deep Ocean Outfalls that were to be built to remedy the beach pollution that had become a daily part of life at Sydney's beaches.

They were completed by 1991 as planned and the promised improvement to water quality at Sydney beaches eventuated.

I do admire the illustrations that were used to explain how the deep ocean outfalls would work and yet kept it simple. One example from 1987 is shown below:

Source: Sydney Water Board. 1987. "Salt water and sunshine. They'll do our beaches a power of good." (Advertisement). The Sydney Morning Herald, March 27, 3S (NSW Supplement).

1965: Sydney's new Water Board Building

In 1962, it was announced that the Water Board (Sydney Water) would construct a new building next to its existing 1938 building at the corner of Bathurst and Pitt Street.

It would be the first major tall building built towards the southern end of the city, rising 23 levels above the street level to a height of 330 feet. A major feature was the sun control panels to control sunlight streaming into the building.

By the end of 1965, it had become reality. Below is a feature article as published by The Sydney Morning Herald on December 21 (Click image to see a larger version).

Source: Edwards, N. 1965. "First giant office block at the southern end of city since war". The Sydney Morning Herald, December 21: 18.

In 2008, the Water Board (now Sydney Water) moved to a new complex at Parramatta, and the building was sold to Brookfield Multiplex for $150 million. It was intended that a new, modern office tower be built on the site. This did not proceed.

Chinese developer Greenland Properties bought the site from Brookfield Multiplex for $100 million in 2013. It has proceeded with plans to gut and partially demolish the tower for a new apartment building that will more than double the height of the building. Work is underway.

Above: Greenland Sydney

Source: Untitled [Still Image]. In Build Sydney. January 17, 2017. Accessed June 30, 2017. https://www.buildsydney.com/greenland-centre-sydney-cbd-237m/

When completed, the tower will rise 68 levels or 237 metres above street level. At this stage it will be the tallest skyscraper in Sydney until the completion of the 272 metre Crown Resort at Barangaroo in 2021. It is also anticipated that it will also lose the mantle of tallest apartment in Sydney with a number of residential towers proposed for Central Sydney that will rise up to 260 metres in height.

Above: The Sydney Water Building is gutted as part of its conversion into an apartment tower. The photo was taken by the Author (2017).